The present invention relates to an air conditioning apparatus and, more particularly, to an air conditioning apparatus which can maintain an indoor space air conditioned at a uniform temperature.
Comfortable indoor living is realized to a certain degree by using an air conditioning apparatus. Recent air conditioning apparatuses incorporate a humidity sensor in addition to a temperature sensor, both being controlled by a microcomputer to create a comfortable indoor environment. However, such conventional air conditioning apparatuses have several problems. In particular, a conventional apparatus for controlling room temperature at a desired temperature detects a temperature near the apparatus with a temperature sensor and controls the room temperature assuming that the detected temperature is an average room temperature. A semiconductor thermistor is conventionally used as the temperature sensor. With a thermistor temperature sensor, however, although room temperature near an air conditioning apparatus can be detected, temperature distribution in a particular area in the room cannot be detected. Generally, the temperature distribution is not uniform and varies greatly depending on a partition arrangement, partition members, and the like. As a result, when room temperature is controlled in accordance with the temperature detected near the air conditioning apparatus, temperature becomes nonuniform in respective areas of the room, and a comfortable overall temperature cannot always be obtained. This leads to inefficiency in cooling/heating. For example, assume that there is a man in a room to be cooled. Temperature will be higher near the man and lower in other areas of the room. When the temperature around the man is to be lowered, the temperature in the other areas are also lowered, inevitably resulting in inefficient operation.